


Do As The Beautiful Once Did

by TriplePirouette



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e11 The Outsider, F/M, post-ep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-19
Updated: 2013-01-19
Packaged: 2017-11-26 02:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/645391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriplePirouette/pseuds/TriplePirouette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through the eyes of Henry Mills, love and loss seem so simple, yet so complicated. He endeavors to help out Belle, and finds that, perhaps, he still needs help himself. </p><p>Post-ep for The Outsider. Rumbelle with a side of Henry feels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do As The Beautiful Once Did

**Author's Note:**

> AN- Everyone seemed so sad post-The Outsider, but seriously? I was HAPPY. So here's why. Title taken from “On The Outside” by Sheryl Crow
> 
>  
> 
> The POV for this piece surprised me. I've never written from Henry's perspective before. I hope you enjoy it.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, there are moments here when I'm being less than conciliatory towards Regina. It's not meant as hate, but the confusion of a young boy who just found out that his mother did not kill the only man he'd had to look up to for nearly his entire life. The very belief on Henry's part that she's capable of that, I believe, would take him to some dark places, and this reflects that.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks a MILLION to my lovely beta K.L. Hufflepuff, who makes my work infinitely better and turned this around in a few scant days.

 

Henry Mills wondered why everyone always seemed to dismiss him so fast. He was going on 12, and had figured out a curse for goodness sakes. Why he seemed to be the last person the adults talked to, when in fact he should probably be the first, always baffled him. He'd been so excited to start an adventure, to break the curse and try to get his real mom and his adoptive mother to both act like the parents that he'd always wanted, that he hadn't thought about the hard times that a ticking clock would bring.

 

Archie's almost death reminded him of the things the fairytales in his book glossed over: death, loss, pain. He watched the adults that were fighting in the lobby across from him, the sterile smell of the hospital stinging in his nostrils as Mr. Gold and Moe French fought with Emma and David. Their voices rang in his ears, and the expressions on their faces... these were fairytale characters, and they'd felt the pain of loss that he'd only just discovered.

 

Living in a cursed town, he'd never even had a class pet hamster die. (Reggie still lived in classroom 2A, for at least eight years now. Henry wondered if he was a cursed person, or just a very lucky rodent...) Archie's almost death had been the first loss that had hit him, had hurt him, and as he watched the four adults fighting in the lobby of the hospital, he understood that they'd felt this before, that as sure as Belle was still alive in a room down the hall with her shoulder bandaged, she was still dead and gone, because she'd crossed the town line and had no other memories.

 

He sighed. They always talked in front of him, said things that later on Emma or Mary Margaret would look at him in wonder when he repeated, because he thought that sometimes, they forgot he was there.

 

This time, they should be talking to him.

 

Henry smiled at the form of his birthmother, hands on her hips, standing up to both a man twice her size and the most powerful man in two words. Nothing scared her. Her father was beside her, just as strong and determined. He wanted to be like them one day. He wanted to be a sheriff, or a prince, and help people. Everyone always told him he was too smart for his own good, but perhaps he was smart enough for other people's good. He wanted to be the hero, he wanted to help.

 

It had taken him too long to figure out who Mr. Gold was, but he supposed that such a great man as the Dark One would be good at keeping secrets. While Mr. Gold had always been gruff with Regina and kept most of the town wound tightly, the man had always been nice to him, even smiled to him, and Henry had never been afraid of him even once. Belle had been his best clue, and he'd smiled every time he saw them at Granny's knowing one more couple was on their way to their Happily Ever After.

 

Mr. French, however, with his gruff manner and his smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, always made Henry nervous. He remembered going into Game of Thorns with his mother and the big man telling him how to stand, how to speak, the deep voice telling Regina that he was too spoiled... He'd never been afraid of Moe French, but something about the man had never made him feel anything but wary about him.

 

Even now, Moe was fighting for control of a grown woman, to be her caretaker, when one was not needed. Gold, with his silly looking scarf, grit his teeth and pleaded with David, but his grandfather looked conflicted. David had reluctantly told Henry the story of the mines, and it made Henry sick. He'd taken a long time, thinking about what parents should and shouldn't do and who they should and shouldn't be to their kids. The one thing he'd always remembered about his mom, about Regina, was that she'd never tried to hurt him, it had just happened. She'd always had good intentions when it came to him.

 

Even the evil queen wouldn't send her own child over the town line, wouldn't condemn her to being the empty shell of a person that poor Belle was now, just like David had been.

 

Just like David...

 

Henry was out of the hospital and down the street before the idea even fully formed in his head. He knew it wouldn't work, he knew that it wasn't just like David, and with the curse broken magic worked differently now but... he'd seen Belle, just for a moment.

 

She'd been so kind to him, so sweet with big smiles and laughs and a brave heart as someone who brought out the best in the town's resident beast. He'd wanted to be her friend, they could bond over books and hot chocolates, but the library hadn't opened yet.

 

When he saw her for that one brief second before the door closed, in her sterile while room, she was vacant. Blank eyes staring at the wall, hair mussed and face pale. She was curled in on herself like a kicked dog waiting for another blow. That wasn't the brave girl from the stories, and that wasn't the woman he'd seen around town.

 

He tore into the apartment, screeching around corners until he had what he was looking for safe in his backpack. He picked up the phone and dialed, hoping against all hope she'd answer this time.

 

Her cell phone went right to voice mail. Regina was still missing.

 

He sighed, putting the phone down, but set his shoulders and left, locking up quickly. The run back to the hospital wasn't far, though he found himself stopping to catch his breath at each corner now. (Their gym teacher had gone on a “leave of absence” so their gym period had turned into a free reading period, but he heard the other teachers talking about him finding his wife after the curse broke. It made him smile, but Henry thought that perhaps a few turns around the track now and then would be a good idea if he was going to be a hero.)

 

When he got back to the hospital he snuck in through a side door, bypassing the lobby completely. He could still hear their raised voices; they probably didn't even know he was gone. But still, he preferred to do this on his own.

 

Silly adults would tell him not to do it, just like Emma and Mary Margaret almost had with David.

 

He knocked on the door before he went in. He just saw the tail end of terror fade into curiosity when she saw that it was a child. “Can I help you?” Belle asked quietly, nerves slipping through her voice.

 

Henry smiled softly at her, keeping his hands down and his body open, just like David had shown him to approach a frightened horse. Belle was no horse, but she sure was frightened. “No, I actually came here to help you.”

 

Her smile widened a bit, and her eyes looked sad. “Oh, that's very sweet, but I don't think you can. You see, they're-”

 

Henry sighed, stepping forward. “They're fighting about helping you, I know. My moms used to do that, too.” He shrugged and put his backpack on the floor, dragging a chair to her bedside as she watched him. “Actually, my one mom is missing, but if I can find her, I think she can help you... at least a little.”

 

Belle sat up, pulling the sheet tighter around her, her head tilted to the side. “How can she help?”

 

Henry's lips pursed and his shoulders sagged. “Did... did they tell you what happened to you?”

 

Belle nodded gently rubbing a hand over her bandaged shoulder. “I got shot.”

 

“No,” Henry sighed, eyes wrinkling up as he started to search for the best way to explain it. “The other thing.” She shook her head, and he looked down, hoping he could put it into the right words that wouldn't scare her more. “See, everyone is this town, this whole town, is from another world. But they were cursed so they don't remember. My mom... she's the one who did it, but she's getting better. But anyway, my other mom and I broke the curse, so everyone remembered. You remembered, too, but if anyone in town goes across the town line, they forget. When you fell, you fell across the line. Problem is, anyone else would just remember who their old personality was. My mom... well, she was really bad for a while, and she had you prisoner. You didn't need an alternate person to be, so she never gave you one.”

 

Belle shrank back, holding her blanket tight. “How... how could she help me?”

 

Henry shrugged. “I don't know if she can. We can't find her anyway. But even if she couldn't give you back your memories maybe... maybe she could give you a curse memory, so that you would have some memories... I don't know. It sounds stupid now that I'm saying it.” He hung his head and shook it, but Belle's hand on his knee stopped him.

 

“It's not stupid,” she whispered. “It's really sweet of you to want to help. And smart, too.” She shrugged when he looked at her. “No one else was brave enough to tell me the truth, or tell me any ideas they had. Except for you.”

 

A little half smile bloomed on the side of his face. “I guess.” They were quiet for a moment, something Henry couldn't picture Belle being after seeing her warm and full of life and chatty at the diner. Her being quiet and still, awkward and unsure, made his stomach flip. “Oh!” he exclaimed, reaching down into his backpack and pulling out his big, leather-bound volume. “I brought you this!”

 

Belle carefully took it in her good hand, laying it on her lap. “What is it?”

 

His heart fell when she asked. He'd hoped that maybe, just maybe, his mother hadn't been _that_ cruel. But it seemed she had been. “It's a book. A book about the real stories of all the people in town. You're in there...” He took a deep breath and continued, a little worried about how this was going to go, “and so is your true love, Rumpelstiltskin.”

 

“He's... he's the man with the funny thing around his neck?” Her head tipped, her eyes going cloudy as she thought back to last night, fear in her eyes. “He caught me when I fell, then tried to attack me while I was sleeping.”

 

Henry nodded encouragingly, desperately trying to belay her fear. “Yeah, that's him. He's your true love. He wasn't attacking you, he was trying to give you True Love's Kiss. It can break any curse. He tried kissing you, but since you can't remember him and don't love him back, it can't break the curse.”

 

Belle looked lost and overwhelmed, even still wary, but she tried to follow. “Oh.”

 

“Don't worry,” Henry shifted closer, opening the heavy cover of the book on her lap and flipping through until he found the first page of their story. “It's all in here. How True Love's Kiss works, what happened to you two, your adventures after, his... everything you need to know to fall in love with him again.” She looked at him sadly, her fingers running over the print on the pages. “What?”

 

Belle's eyes stayed glued to the page as her nails traced the letters. “I can't understand what these things mean.”

 

Henry almost cried at the thought of the girl who always carried a book being unable to read, but he stood and sat himself in the space next to her, remembering what his grandmother had done for his grandfather. “Then I'll read it to you, and teach you how to read, if you want.”

 

Belle bit her lip as the yelling in the hall was punctuated by a heavy crashing sound. “Thank you,” she whispered.

 

Henry nodded and turned to the book, pointing with his finger as he went along, like his own mother had done so long ago, so she could follow. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Belle.”

* * *

“But he caught her as the curtains and his caretaker tumbled down, the dust filtering the daylight which had so long been-”

 

“What in the Gods are you doing boy?” The bellow caught both Henry and Belle by surprise, Moe French's lumbering form calling at them quickly as he came through the door. “Regina couldn't keep you under thumb, now this new mother of yours is even worse!”

 

“Hey!” Emma called, striding into the room and helping Henry from the bed, taking the book from both of them and shoving it into his back pack. “You don't talk to my son like that!”

 

Moe tried to shield the bed, but Belle leaned away from him. “You keep your son away from my daughter!”

 

“Thank you,” she whispered to Henry, unheard over the din of the adults as Gold and Charming appeared in the doorway to once again join the fight.

 

“You're welcome,” he whispered back as Emma pulled him from the room, passing him off to David, who sent him out into the hall.

 

He stumbled a few feet back, his arms full of backpack and book, as he listened to the fighting. “They never listen to me.”

 

The voice behind him made him jump, but he turned with a sad smile on his face. “We should more often,” Mary Margaret mused gently, holding out her arm. “David and Emma asked me to come get you, said this was no place for a kid, and I think they're right.”

 

Henry nodded as he clutched his book, walking into Mary Margaret's warm embrace. Hugs from Mary Margaret and Emma were different than hugs from Regina. He'd always felt like his old mom took hugs... but Mary Margaret? Mary Margaret gave them. “They're fighting too much.”

 

His grandmother sighed, clutching his shoulder as she turned him. “They all want what's best for her, but when people don't agree about what's best...”

 

“Like you guys and my mom...” Henry sighed, thinking about where his adoptive mother might be. Mary Margaret just held him tighter, and he liked it.

 

“Yes, like us and Regina, then things get complicated.” She led him out of the front doors and down the sidewalk he'd run down not more than a half hour ago. “Let Emma and David take care of it, alright?”

 

“But they're not helping Belle.” He whispered. He stopped and turned Mary Margaret to face him. “I don't know if David told you, but...” tears gathered in his eyes. “My mom didn't give her curse memories. She doesn't have another person to be now. She didn't know what a book was, or how to read. And she's really scared and all they're doing is fighting and she's just really, really scared.”

 

Mary Margaret knelt down to him and wiped a tear off his cheek. “I keep trying to see how my mom thought she was helping, but she just hurt so many people. She wanted to kill you and Emma, and now I can't call them both mom because no one understands and I thought she killed Archie... and what she did to Belle, she must have been like that for as long as the town was cursed, scared and alone and sitting in a cell like that, and well...”

 

“Well, what, Henry?” Mary Margaret asked softly, tears clouding her own eyes.

 

His words came out in a broken whisper. “My heart says I still love her, but my head doesn't think I should.”

 

Mary Margaret clutched him tightly, even as he fought not to cry. “You love who your heart says to love, Henry.” He dropped his book and held on to her tightly. “Good people do bad things and bad people do good things and it's hard sometimes. But Regina was a good person once, and I know she wants to be again for you.” Her hand went to his head as she held him to her shoulder, and he'd never felt safer. “You love who your heart tells you to love, and don't ever let anyone change that.”

 

Henry sniffed pulling away a little. “I thought, maybe if we could find her, she could help Belle, you know? Even if she and Mr. Gold can't fix what happened, maybe together they could find a way to give her curse memories, so she could at least be a little happy until she falls in love with Mr. Gold again.”

 

Mary Margaret barked out a light, watery laugh. “You see?” she asked as she smoothed down his hair and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “We should listen to you more often. I don't think anyone else has thought about trying something like that.”

 

He picked up his book, holding it close. “I was reading to her,” he whispered proudly. “Like you read to David. I thought maybe, even if it didn't help her remember, she might fall back in love if she heard their story again.”

 

Mary Margaret's head tipped to the side as she stood and handed Henry his backpack. “You're a wise soul, Henry.” She started moving them forward again, their steps slower this time. “Do you think reading to her will work?”

 

He shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know. I mean, I can't even get girls to give me valentines, never mind fall in love, but... but I guess it will at least make her happy, right?”

 

Mary Margaret laughed. “Talk to your grandfather about girls. He has the charming thing down.”

 

Henry shook his head. “This is the 21st century. I don't think the girls here would take kindly to being put in traps in the woods or fighting trolls.”

 

“You never know,” she whispered, “that Gretel looks like a fighter to me.”

 

Henry's nose scrunched. “I don't think I can talk about girls with you.”

 

She straightened, affronted. “Why not?”

 

Henry rolled his eyes as he bounded up the stairs for their apartment. “Because you're both a girl and my grandmother.” He stopped on the top step and shrugged. “I just can't. Let me know when David gets home.”

* * *

“Aren't you excited, though?” Henry asked, his face leaning forward between the seats as he, Mr. Gold, and Emma drove down the interstate toward New York.

 

Mr. Gold's brow furrowed as he played with the head of his cane. “I really don't see what there's to be excited about, Henry.”

 

“Well,” Henry sighed, leaning against the seat, “It's like a do-over. Like when I did really bad on a test in school and the teacher would let me take it again.” He back tracked, sitting up tall. “Not that you did bad the first time, but... well,” he scrunched his nose and hunched over. “Now you know what the questions are, so you know the answers. You know what kinda things she wants and what kinda things she likes. I wasn't with her long, but I know that the same old Belle is in there somewhere. She got so excited when I pulled out the book, even though she didn't know what it was. She just... knew, deep inside. So you can get her all the things she likes, and take her to do all the stuff she likes, and say the right thing, and she'll fall in love with you quicker. And then, when you kiss her-”

 

“Henry...” Emma warned.

 

“-and break the curse with True Love's Kiss, not only will she remember all the stuff from the past, but she'll remember all the new nice stuff you did for her to make her fall in love with you again.”

 

Gold sighed, mumbling something about the optimism of youth under his breath before turning to the boy sadly. “Henry, it doesn't work like that.”

 

Emma looked at him in disbelief before turning back to the road. “Yeah, it does.”

 

Gold turned to her, “I'm sorry?”

 

Emma shook her head and she switched lanes on the highway. “If I were a girl who had a guy doing EVERYTHING I liked, being attentive, being generous, helping me, I'd totally fall in love with that, right? But then, once I actually remembered... you'd just proven how much you wanted to change.” Gold's eyes narrowed at her suspiciously, and Emma flustered. “I mean, that's assuming you actually do and all that. I sorta have an idea...” She sighed, hitting the wheel. “Ruby has a big mouth, ok? I know what Belle wanted and I'm telling you, Henry's right.”

 

“Be that as it may,” Gold sighed harshly, annoyed at Ruby, Henry figured, “This magic has almost run out, and I need to find my son before Belle and I are both shells of our former selves. I can start when I get back into town, I suppose.”

 

Henry laughed, smiling happily. “Nope, you're starting right now.”

 

“Henry, while I enjoy your optimism,” Gold sat back, tugging on his son's cloak, “I'm two states away in a car. How do you propose I help her now?”

 

Henry shrugged. “You don't. Mary Margaret promised me she'd go visit Belle every day. And bring books to help her read. She's going to finish telling her your story out of my book, so that by the time you get back, Belle will know who you are.”

 

Gold sighed. “Henry, you've read that book. You know just as much about me as she does. What makes you think that all those horrible things I've done will endear me to her?”

 

“Because I've read all those horrible things you've done,” Henry said, leaning against the seat and putting a hand on Gold's shoulder. “And I've never once been afraid of you.”

 

Emma sighed, “Fear and love are two different things, Henry.”

 

Henry rolled his eyes, sitting back. “I know that.” He threw up his hands. “It's just, well, if my mom... Regina, is missing, there's no one left to mess up happy endings, right? Everyone should get their happy ending.”

 

Gold sighed and looked over his shoulder at the boy. “I wish that was how it worked, Henry, but...”

 

Henry sat up. “No, no buts. This world doesn't have ways to know who your True Love is. Your world did. You know that Belle is your True Love, Mary Margaret knows that David is hers. When you know who your true love is, there shouldn't be any question. Maybe it's silly and ridiculous, but shouldn't you fight for them? Shouldn't you keep fighting until you can't anymore?”

 

Emma shook her head. “Sometimes you have to know when to stop fighting, Henry.”

 

He held his ground, pulling on the seats tightly. “When it's for someone you love, that should only be when one of you is dead. I've read the stories, I know them. Do you know what happens when someone gives up on love? Bad things. Bad things happen when people lose love. They die, or other people die, or they lose hope, or they become evil. Love changes that, and as long as there's a chance at True Love? There's no reason anyone should ever stop fighting.”

 

He huffed out a breath, trying to calm himself after his tirade. The two adults in the car were silent. “But what would I know,” he said morosely, sitting back into the back seat. “I'm barely 12.”

 

Miles passed in silence, full of trees and buildings that amazed Henry as much as they did Mr. Gold before the man spoke again. “You're right, Henry.” He sighed, his eyes never leaving the landscape out of the window. “I promise I won't give up on Belle.” his voice came out heavy, dark and ghostly as if the words held more meaning to them than he would ever understand. “When you find someone worth fighting for, you never give up.”

 

“Good,” Henry said, sitting back smugly. “We'll start by getting her one of those 'I love New York' t-shirts.”

 

 


End file.
